Naturalist Pliny wrote some pretty odd things about women in his Natural History (Picture: Getty)

According to Pliny the Elder they could stop hailstorms, whirlwinds and lightening, and kill crops.

Not to mention kill bees, dim mirrors and blunt weapons just by looking at them.

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He also thought menstrual blood drove dogs mad.

2. The Ancient Egyptians used softened papyrus as tampons

Meanwhile, the Ancient Greeks fashioned tampons from bits of wood with lint wrapped round (they also used these for contraception).

The Romans wore pads and tampons made of wool.

3. Medieval Europeans burnt toads to ease heavy flow

The recipe’s pretty simple – find a toad, burn it in a pot, then wear the ashes in a pouch near your vagina, writes medieval historian Amy License.

4. The French thought period sex would lead to ‘monsters’ being born

No nookie on rag week unless you want to give birth to something ‘puny, languid, and moribund, subject to an infinity of fetid maladies, foul and stinking,’ thought our friends across the pond, according to The Curse: A Cultural History Of Menstruation.

5. Medieval Europeans thought period blood cured leprosy

Well, a nun called Hildegard von Bingen who published medical texts did.

However, others thought that having sex with a woman on her period would corrode the penis, and that drinking period blood gave you leprosy, so it was all a bit of a gamble.

6. Period blood was thought to be an aphrodisiac

Worryingly, some people still believe this to be true.

African folk magic called Hoodoo advises putting it into a guy’s coffee to make him fall for you.

In other cultures, period blood is also thought to have magical powers.